Recover From Chemotherapy And Marrow Transplant In A Faster Way
http://www.healthmedicalresources.com/articles/19/1/Recover-From-Chemotherapy-And-Marrow-Transplant-In-A-Faster-Way/Page1.html
Charlie S Lafave
By Charlie S Lafave
Published on September 8th, 2008
A lot of researchers who are involved in various studies at Children’s Hospital Boston state that they have found an all-together new way in order to increase the percentage of stem cells in blood.
Recover From Chemotherapy And Marrow Transplant In A Faster Way
A lot of researchers who are involved in various studies at Children’s Hospital Boston state that they have found an all-together new way in order to increase the percentage of stem cells in blood.
They also suggest that they have found a treatment that would help the patients, who undergo treatments like chemotherapy as well as bone marrow transplant for leukemia as well as other type of cancers, to build a strong immune function. In the issue of Nature that came on June 21st, the researchers were able to state that a stable analog of prostaglandin is responsible for increasing the blood-forming system, both in the case of embryonic development and even after the damage.
“The discovery, made possible through high-volume drug screening in zebra fish, marks the first time stem-cell production has been induced by a small-molecule drug ,” says the study’s senior author, Leonard Zon, MD, of the Children’s Hospital Boston Stem Cell Program and Division of Hematology/Oncology.
Other research related studies and facts were taken from Leonard's own lab. According to these researches, it has been proved that some of the identified ways in order to enhance the formation of blood stem cells, are known. It has been proved that these blood stem cells give rise to each of the body’s various blood cell types.
But the methods that are involved in the process are technically very complex and haven’t lent themselves to the usage of broad medical treatments till date.
The hospital is now hoping to have a clinical trial of the drug. This drug is a long-active derivative of prostaglandin E2 and is called dmPGE2. It was initially tested more than 20 years ago for people who were suffering from gastritis, but it never came in the category of a drug.
Currently, those patients who are undergoing the treatment of bone marrow transplant are facing the problem of getting marrow from a matched donor that could replenish their stem cells. This would further give rise to a full array of blood cell types, including every single cell of the immune system.
In the case when they don't find a suitable donor in order to get marrow match, these people can get umbilical cord blood, which is also geared up with blood stem cells. But usually the percentage of stem cells in one cord of blood is not enough for the adults. This leaves them with a diminished immune function as well as an increased risk for infections.
Researchers have found 82 chemicals that markedly increased or decreased gene activity. Out of these 82 chemicals, 10 turned were responsible in affecting the prostaglandin pathway: 5 were responsible for the formation of blood stem cells, and five were responsible for reducing the count.
“We weren’t specifically looking for prostaglandins,” says Zon, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator as well as a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. “This was a surprise finding.”
They also suggest that they have found a treatment that would help the patients, who undergo treatments like chemotherapy as well as bone marrow transplant for leukemia as well as other type of cancers, to build a strong immune function. In the issue of Nature that came on June 21st, the researchers were able to state that a stable analog of prostaglandin is responsible for increasing the blood-forming system, both in the case of embryonic development and even after the damage.
“The discovery, made possible through high-volume drug screening in zebra fish, marks the first time stem-cell production has been induced by a small-molecule drug ,” says the study’s senior author, Leonard Zon, MD, of the Children’s Hospital Boston Stem Cell Program and Division of Hematology/Oncology.
Other research related studies and facts were taken from Leonard's own lab. According to these researches, it has been proved that some of the identified ways in order to enhance the formation of blood stem cells, are known. It has been proved that these blood stem cells give rise to each of the body’s various blood cell types.
But the methods that are involved in the process are technically very complex and haven’t lent themselves to the usage of broad medical treatments till date.
The hospital is now hoping to have a clinical trial of the drug. This drug is a long-active derivative of prostaglandin E2 and is called dmPGE2. It was initially tested more than 20 years ago for people who were suffering from gastritis, but it never came in the category of a drug.
Currently, those patients who are undergoing the treatment of bone marrow transplant are facing the problem of getting marrow from a matched donor that could replenish their stem cells. This would further give rise to a full array of blood cell types, including every single cell of the immune system.
In the case when they don't find a suitable donor in order to get marrow match, these people can get umbilical cord blood, which is also geared up with blood stem cells. But usually the percentage of stem cells in one cord of blood is not enough for the adults. This leaves them with a diminished immune function as well as an increased risk for infections.
Researchers have found 82 chemicals that markedly increased or decreased gene activity. Out of these 82 chemicals, 10 turned were responsible in affecting the prostaglandin pathway: 5 were responsible for the formation of blood stem cells, and five were responsible for reducing the count.
“We weren’t specifically looking for prostaglandins,” says Zon, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator as well as a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. “This was a surprise finding.”